Calgary mother faces maximum five year sentence in deaths of two newborns

Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald11.27.2013

Meredith Borowiec enters court Tuesday before being found guilty of infanticide for placing two live newborns into a trash bin. She faces a maximum of five years in prison for the deaths of the infants, whose bodies were never found.Ted Rhodes
/ Calgary Herald

Meredith Borowiec enter court behind her lawyer as she arrives for the verdict in her trial Tuesday November 25, 2013 in connection withthe deaths of her two newborns.Ted Rhodes
/ Calgary Herald

Meredith Borowiec enter court behind her lawyer as she arrives for the verdict in her trial Tuesday November 25, 2013 in connection withthe deaths of her two newborns.Ted Rhodes
/ Calgary Herald

Meredith Katharine Borowiec faces a maximum five-year prison sentence for disposing of two live newborn babies in a trash bin, a judge ruled Tuesday.

In his lengthy oral decision, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Pewter McIntyre acquitted the 32-year-old Calgary woman of two counts of second-degree murder and convicted her of the rare criminal charge of infanticide regarding the deliveries in 2008 and 2009.

“The Crown had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused wilfully caused the deaths of two of her newly born children by abandoning them,” McIntyre said. “The Crown has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that when the accused caused their deaths, her mind was not disturbed from the effects of giving birth to them.”

Borowiec was charged with the deaths of the two babies, whose bodies were never found, when she did the same to a third newborn outside her northwest apartment building in May 2010. That baby boy was first discovered by a passerby within a couple of hours of him being dumped in the trash, then by her boyfriend Ian Turnbull — the father of all three infants.

McIntyre said he accepted the testimony of forensic psychiatrist Dr. Jeanette Smith, who concluded Borowiec’s mind was disturbed as having not yet fully recovered from giving birth.

He said the actions of the mother regarding the third baby, for which she faces a second trial next year on attempted murder, gave credence to her statements to police about the first two babies.

“For the third baby, knowing police were there investigating, she sat on the front step of the building with a bloody blanket wrapped around her watching them,” said McIntyre. “These bizarre actions — with Dr. Smith’s opinion — tell me her mind was disturbed as a result of these births.”

Borowiec smiled and shook the hands of her lawyers — Andrea Serink and Jim Lutz — before she left the courtroom. None of them would comment outside court after the verdict.

Crown prosecutor Jayme Williams, who along with co-counsel Darren Maloney had argued for the murder convictions, said outside court the judge gave a thorough and reasoned decision.

“The long and the short of it is, Ms. Borowiec was convicted of wilfully killing two newborns,” said Williams.

McIntyre noted that Borowiec consistently denied to friends and co-workers that she was pregnant on all of the occasions, and she said her boyfriend did not know she was going to give birth, factors he ruled were consistent with psychiatric observations of denial.

But, he added, when she told police of the newborns, she was reliving real memories consistent with real recollections.

“She did not even know the gender, which is consistent with neonaticide,” said McIntyre. “There were no suggestions from her they died before they were put in the Dumpster. She said she hoped somebody would help them. This story, though bizarre, is consistent with them being alive.”

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